Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
On this date ...
1937: Clovis’ zoo had a new fawn. Zookeeper Ivan Hoadley said the baby deer was discovered in the grass on zoo property, presumably the offspring of two of the five adult deer on the grounds.
1945: Due to a drastic feed shortage in the area, many farmers and dairy cattlemen were selling all or part of their herds, cutting milk production by 20 to 30%.
1947: Yeggmen got away with $800 to $900 in cash from the Campbell’s Dairy and Ice Cream Co. plant at 1400 Main in Clovis. Police said a safe containing the money was battered and broken by the robbers.
1951: The Lubbock Hubbers baseball team was making plans to host Muleshoe Night in honor of Hubbers Manager Don Moore, a Muleshoe native.
Hall of Fame pitcher and broadcaster Dizzy Dean was expected to attend the festivities and spend time in the public address booth.
Dean’s brother Paul was general manager of the Hubbers.
The Hubbers were playing the Clovis Pioneers, which the Dean brothers had previously co-owned.
1951: Law enforcement officers and others were looking for the 85-year-old founder of Progress, Texas, after a neighbor reported him missing.
The Clovis News-Journal reported rumors that Blocher was wealthy were not true, according to law officers. But some had speculated he’d been robbed and killed because of those rumors.
Blocher’s brutally beaten body was found Aug. 15, 1951, in a Bailey County cotton field.
Two Amarillo men were ultimately convicted in connection with his slaying. They told authorities they thought Blocher was rich but found only 13 cents in his pockets.
Authorities in October 1951 found about $10,000 buried in jars about 3 inches below the dirt floor in Blocher’s home between Muleshoe and Farwell.
1959: The FBI had joined local authorities investigating how a stolen vehicle and suitcase full of narcotics came to be in a ditch near a farm about halfway between Clovis and Portales.
Officials said the car was stolen from Arizona. The suitcase found in the weeds nearby contained dexedrine, nembutal and other pills known as “goofballs,” plus two boxes of bullets for a Luger automatic pistol.
1960: Roosevelt County had received the trophy for having the best all-around 4-H program in the state at the New Mexico 4-H Club Camp in Las Cruces.
Portales’ Floyd McAlister was among individual winners.
Jerry Valentine of Clovis had won the boys’ division championship for public speaking.
1962: Curry County’s fair board approved multiple features for the fair scheduled Sept. 5-8. Officials approved $120.90 for additional electrical outlets in the beef barns and voted to install new garbage cans on the grounds.
General admission would still be free, board members decided, and a charge of 50 cents per car would remain in effect for parking. Board members also approved a fireworks display and allowed a television station to broadcast live during the fair.
1966: Some Clovis residents complained to city commissioners that their neighborhood smelled bad.
Jose Chavez, a spokesman for petitioners, said hog pens in the Mendenhall addition near the stockyards were creating “an awful stink and swarms of flies.”
Dr. George Prothro, the district health officer, told officials, “Our city is a mess.”
Mayor Ted Waldhauser reminded the unhappy residents that their homes were located in an area zoned for livestock, but said officials would inspect the area and address the issue at a future meeting.
1966: A state police probe continued into missing funds from Clovis parking meter receipts.
District Attorney Morris Stagner said $13,273 was missing from $89,840.94 that had been collected from Aug. 24, 1961, to April 22, 1966.
Wendell J. McCormick, city clerk and treasurer, was charged with embezzlement in connection with the case, but he was acquitted by a Clovis jury in December 1966.
McCormick testified in the trial and said the funds in question were used to replenish a number of petty cash drawers in city hall and there was never any money missing.
A Clovis jury deliberated for about three hours before finding McCormick innocent of the charges.
1967: Clovis was all about fashion.
The Cannon Air Force Base Girl Scouts presented two style shows featuring junior fashions with dance selections during intermission.
The 1967-68 Clovis Cheerleaders were in preparation for their fashion show titled “Expo 67.”
1971: Wakefield’s Texaco was hosting its grand opening at First and Prince streets in Clovis. Owner Louis Wakefield was offering a free carton of Pepsi-Cola with a fill up of eight gallons of gas or more. A mechanic was on duty for major and minor tuneups.
1975: The Clovis Chamber of Commerce announced Gen. George Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, would be the guest speaker at its annual banquet on Oct. 17.
Gen. Brown ranked under only President Ford and Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger in military hierarchy.
About 400 people attended the Chamber banquet and heard Brown warn that the Soviets were gaining in military power.
Tickets were $9.
Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens and Betty Williamson. Contact:
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